January 2007 Print

Prostrate before your divine presence, all the public powers of the Church and of the State offer and consecrate to Thee now and for always the Republic of Ecuador as Thy exclusive possession and property.¹

The pact was sealed with the blood of the president, assassinated on August 6, 1875, a first Friday, in the same church as the consecration. That day Garcia Moreno had noted in his spiritual diary: "Lord Jesus, show me what it is that I ought to do today for Thy love." Also in the same church, on the Holy Thursday of 1877, the Archbishop was poisoned to death.

At the death of Garcia Moreno, a moderate liberal, Antonio Barrero, was elected, but General Veintimilla, an extreme liberal who was defeated in 1883, rebelled. There was a moderately lawful era until 1895. Then, an extreme liberal, General Eloy Alfaro, rebelled and remained in power for 20 years, taking part in revolutions. He was dictator from 1895-1901 and from 1906-11 thanks to another revolution. Finally he returned to rebel against his successor in 1911, but was defeated and lynched in 1912. General Leanidas Plaza, a companion of the former, governed from 1901-05 and returned to power in 1912-16 by another rebellion–and so the countless rebellions continued.

In 1895 General Alfaro, "a model of infamy," promised Pope Leo XIII to maintain harmony with the Vatican, but in the following year he broke the Concordat. He expelled the Jesuits from the Amazon region, where they had founded 152 villages. He forbade the establishment of new religious congregations in the country.

In 1900 the Ecuadorian Congress decreed the secularization of convents. It restricted the freedom of teaching, and the colleges were unable to give examinations; in the State schools it suppressed the teaching of religion. It revoked the decree of the National Consecration to the Sacred Heart.

In 1901 the government seized part of St. Gabriel's College from the Jesuits. The following year General Plaza established civil marriage and divorce. In 1904 he forbade novitiates, and deprived the religious institutions of their goods, the slogan being: "Independence from Spain, independence from Rome."² In 1906, Alfaro reached the point of a complete rupture with the Church. He forbade Bishop Riera, the consecrated bishop of Portoviejo, to enter into his diocese. The constant persecution forced the number of students in St. Gabriel's College to be reduced from 400 to 150. Not content with this, a decree was already prepared to expel the Jesuits from the college they had been operating since 1862, and it was one of the few Catholic colleges that remained (this is the usual hellish technique: the best way to de-Catholicize a country is to prevent its youth from receiving a Catholic education and formation).

Intervention of the Virgin

The Virgin chose the same college dedicated to one of the Archangels: St. Gabriel. The place was the dining hall of the boarding students on the first floor of the college, 72 feet (lessened by a partition to 43 feet) by 23 feet. The picture: a color oleograph³ (20 inches long by 16 inches wide) of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary (Our Lady of Sorrows with her heart pieced with seven swords), printed in France. The Jesuits had purchased three of these from a traveling salesman, and one of them was placed in the dining hall, on the right side as one enters, six feet from the floor. Between it and the floor was a bench 16 inches high. The picture was one of the many pictures in the College. The time was 8 o'clock at night on April 20th, 1906, Easter Friday. The persons were 35 boarding students 11-17 years old, coming from every region of Ecuador: the Father Prefect (or head of discipline), Andrew Roesch, a Frenchman; the Brother Assistant Supervisor, Louis Alberdi, a Spaniard; and three employees. (The rector of the College was Fr. Andrew Machado of Cuenca, Ecuador, who would later become the Bishop of Guayaquil.)

Because it was the Easter vacation, the students had returned that day tired from an excursion. After a short period of study, they were brought for supper to the two large tables of the dining hall that ran parallel to the side walls. Near the end of the meal the Father Prefect arrived and gave the "Deo gratias" (permission to speak, in place of listening to a reading), and told them the news of the terrible earthquake that had occurred on the 18th of the month in San Francisco, California. The students of the College were very familiar with this type of tragedy, as earthquakes are not uncommon in Ecuador.

The children were chatting with one another. In front of the picture of Our Lady of Quito there were three eleven-year-old boys, who on Holy Thursday of the previous week had made their First Communion: James Chavez, Charles Herrman, and Peter Donoso. Struck by the news of the devastation in California, Chavez was saying that he would like to die in an earthquake after receiving Holy Communion. Father Prefect called Donoso to his table. Herrman remained with Chavez, who was looking at the Virgin, when... But let us ask him himself what happened next.

We finished taking coffee, Brother Alberdi came and told us about the earthquake in California, and we began to speak about the Virgin. I said that the seven swords were driven in by our sins. I looked at her, and she was moving her eyelids. I thought that it was my imagination. The other boy looked afterwards and said to me, "Look at the Virgin," and we kept looking.

Seeing what was happening we knelt down; we prayed an Our Father and a Hail Mary. We were looking at what was happening; I called Peter Donoso, saying, "Come and you will see this funny thing." I called him three times. She [the Virgin] was moving her eyes, the left one and afterwards the right one; the first time she was moving them a little more quickly. After a repetition of two or three times she was closing both."

This was the response of 11-year-old Charles Herrman in the canonical process. Let us also read that of his companion, Chavez:

When we finished eating we said, "Deo gratias," and we were speaking about the Virgin and the Father Prefect called one of the boys to the other table, and two of us remained alone. And then I looked upwards, and I saw that the eyes of the Virgin were beginning to tremble like someone who is in agony, and seeing this I said to the other boy, "Let us pray an Our Father and a Hail Mary," and we knelt down. Then we sat down again. And looking at what was happening, we informed the others and some of them came. Then we went to get the Father Prefect, but he did not want to come. Afterwards we went to get him again and he came, but he did not want to believe at all. And Brother Alberdi stood in the middle and said, "It is certain," but he [the Father Prefect] still did not want to believe, until all the boys were repeating at the same time: "Now she opens, now she closes!" After a quarter of an hour the bell rang for us to go to the chapel before the incident ceased.

And so it began. In fact, Donoso, who was in the group of the Father Prefect, when his friend Hermann came running to get him, paid no attention to him. The other boy had to invite him three times before he would get up and go: "I went over," Donoso relates, "and I saw the eyes of the Virgin moving; and I covered my eyes so as not to see, out of fear, and I went another time where Father Roesch...."

Naturally, the priest absolutely did not believe that the Virgin was moving her eyes; nor did he change his mind. How was he going to believe this sort of thing from boys? Brother Alberdi declared in the process:

One of the boys from the first tables came to tell us that the Virgin was moving her eyes; and we went closer coldly and with little enthusiasm, as least speaking for myself.

Likewise the other boys were stubborn in not believing or going closer, and they delayed for about a quarter of an hour. Many did this, as they later declared:

Although we did not believe, and we continued our conversation, since everyone was getting up we went to see out of curiosity.

Another testified:

Upon receiving the news it made no impression upon me, and I even laughed, but curiosity got the best of me and I got closer to the Virgin.

And another relates:

When we heard it said that the Virgin was opening and closing her eyes, we went with the intention of making a joke out of what they were saying. Almost all of us did not care about it. I went, but to make fun, and while shoving the others who were coming with me.

The Prefect, Fr. Roesch, declared in his turn:

With great insistence another boy came to urge me to go and see what was happening. At first I refused what they asked, saying that he should stop the nonsense, because it seemed to me to be an illusion of the boys; but finally, because of the urging and the calling by all those who were witnessing the prodigy, I went over to the table that was located closest to the picture, with the resolution formed of dispelling the notion. I verified with much determination that the electric lights were not moving, or if some beam was reflecting on the image; none of this appeared.

Standing in front of the image surrounded by the children, I fixed my eyes on her without blinking, and I observed that the Most Holy Virgin was slowly closing her eyes; but still not believing that I was certain, I left the place. The Brother, who was more certain than I, seeing this, said to me, amazed at what was happening, "But Father, what if this is a miracle? What if this is a miracle?..." I returned again to the spot where I previously was; then I felt a coldness that chilled my body, while seeing, without any possible doubt, that the picture was actually closing and opening its eyes. When this was happening all the children that were watching the prodigy were crying out with one voice, "Now she closes; now she opens; now the left." But it should be noted that at times she was closing only the left eye or at least more clearly than the right, since it appeared to be more closed. The prodigy repeated itself several times and lasted a little more or less than 15 minutes. It ceased when, seeing that it was already very late for the night prayers, and always fearing to give too much attention, I gave the signal for the students to retire; which they did very much to their regret, since they wanted to kneel and pray. I forbade any noise that would cause a disturbance, since it seemed to me that if the prodigy were miraculous the witnesses would not be lacking to prove it. At first I believed it to be an illusion, and afterwards I was seen going away still without giving credit. Urged again by the Brother, I returned, and the blinking was so evident to me that it gave me the feeling of a chill, and I remain in this conviction.

As can be seen, they all were incredulous at the beginning. The first one who said that he saw the miracle, Charles Hermann, did not believe his eyes, for which reason neither did he make any comment to his companion, James Chavez. The latter was the first that told someone else about it.

Fr. Roesch not only was incredulous, he feared being influenced by the extraordinary, and, incomprehensibly (it proves his objectivity), he gave the signal to go to the chapel to pray the rosary when the Virgin was continuing to open and close her eyes. And when Brother Herman Alberdi suggested to him: "Let us take the picture of the Virgin to the chapel so that we can pray the rosary in front of her," he did not consent. Neither did he permit a boy determined to inform the Father Rector to do it. Even more, he told the students not to say anything to anyone.

Nevertheless, as soon as they left the dining hall, immediately the news spread throughout the house. Some priests did not refrain from coming to the dining hall, but nothing extraordinary happened. The picture of the Sorrowful Virgin, with her heart transpierced, had the same eyes as always. The phenomenon had ceased, or had it really?

Verification of the Testimonies

What would you have done, dear reader, if you had to pass judgment upon what was being said? Of course, before proving all this, you would need to investigate. How? By interrogating the witnesses, you will say, by examining their credibility, the possibility of fraud, a collective suggestion, an optical illusion...

Well, the ecclesiastical authority did this, and with all the rigor of the "devil's advocate." Seven days after the event the canonical process began, without the participation of any Jesuits. It appointed a commission of scientists and another of doctors. They would take a thorough declaration from each one of the 40 witnesses under oath. (Considering whom they were dealing with and about what they were dealing with, were the 40 witnesses going to be in agreement about swearing falsely?)

At that moment, on April 2, the current Vicar Capitular⁴ (the diocese was vacant) ordered that "the aforesaid picture be covered and nothing be disclosed in the press nor from the pulpit relating to this prodigy, as long as its importance and authenticity has not been decided." This was a prudent temporary prohibition for the miracle to be verified. At the same time, he named the theologians and the scientists who would conduct the investigation. They were strict (meriting later the praises of the Sacred Congregation), but not too slow. They delayed for one month.

On the 29th, in the study hall of the boarding students the instruction of the process began. The Vicar Capitular, accompanied by the Secretary of the Chancellery and of the senior Notary, reunited the 40 witnesses and commanded that each one, without communicating with the others, write what it was that he saw in such a way that he would be able to confirm it under oath. On the first of May a canon was commissioned as instructor Judge, assisted by the senior Notary, and on the 5th of May they appeared in person for: 1) the examination of the written statements, 2) their ratification under oath, and 3) to propose to the witnesses a series of questions: if during those days they had heard something about that matter, if there was sufficient light, if at the beginning they were afraid and later at peace, and what effect had been produced on him and his conduct.

Concerning these statements, all agreed on the reality of the phenomenon, and it seems that at the beginning they were trying not to admit it. Someone went up to the picture, another went up to the partition to see it more closely. There was enough light (the room was illuminated by four light bulbs producing 16 foot-candles each) and the exclamations in unison: "now she opens, now she closes," lasting for more that a quarter of an hour, leave no room for doubts. "The existence of a marvelous prodigy is evident," concluded the instructor judge of the process. All also confirmed that the movement of the eyes was always full of majesty, and when opening them her gaze remained steadfast.

Once the event had been proved, the commission of scientists, after having sworn to work truthfully and diligently, reconstructed the scene in the same place, at the same hour, with the same circumstances, and examined the picture…about which fact

the subscribers will deduce: that the aforesaid phenomenon could not have occurred as the result of the light or other physical conditions in which the picture was located. Moreover the movement of the eyes occurred many times in each instance, as proven by the fact that everyone present observed it at the same time; and its size is such that at the distance of the onlookers a movement of the eyelids could be perceived with no room for doubt; nor could it be an optical illusion because it was seen simultaneously by all.

Was there something that remained to be proven? Yes, the mental health of the forty eyewitnesses, which is what the medical commission carried out. From May 17-19, two eminent doctors examined each one separately and by himself. The examinations were lengthy, the result of which was, in brief: that they all possessed good heath without any nervous illness or predisposition towards such phenomena, but it was just the opposite, as far as excluding any influence, no one tried to influence anyone, nor was it admissible that the youngest boys in particular were able to trick all the rest. The only one who would have had the power to do this, by his authority, was the one most hesitant to believe, and he even took the students away from there.

After all these preceding events the committee of nine theologians studied in its turn the case and reported favorably. Finally, the Vicar Capitular, mindful of all the above, pronounced the last word.

 

PASTORAL RESOLUTION:

1) The prodigy that took place on April 20 at the College of the Jesuit Fathers is proven to be historically certain. 2) The prodigy, under the circumstances in which it took place, cannot be explained by natural laws. 3) This prodigy, as much on account of what preceded it as by what followed it, cannot be attributed to any diabolical influence. Consequently, one can believe it with a purely human faith, and one may offer the picture which occasioned it the public veneration permitted by the Church, and to pray before it with legitimate confidence. Given at the Archiepiscopal Palace on May 31, 1906.

 

The ecclesiastical authority officially authenticated the picture on June 10. On the same May 31, the Vicar Capitular gave an exhortation to the faithful:

 

The occurrence of which we treat has presented itself with so many and such serious motives of rational credibility that although one can decline to believe it without sin, it seems difficult for anyone to reject it without straying from the norms of the most rigorous criteriology.

 

He further commented:

 

It is not possible to pass over in silence certain circumstances. The youths are witnesses to that fact that they begin to live in a world trying to deny the supernatural and at the very time when attempts are increasing to uproot from the hearts of the youth every vestige of the faith.

On the other hand the marvelous phenomenon is caused by a simple and pious image of the Sorrowful Virgin, a favorite of Ecuadorians; and especially during times of calamities it appeals to the devotion and the heartfelt sympathy of all the faithful. God has sought to make known what is not useless, but that supplication with which we so many times invoke the Heart of Mary has been heard quite literally: "Turn Thine eyes of mercy towards us." She has indeed turned them, so tearful and tender; she has shown herself a Mother, because mothers have the secret of communicating with a look, of speaking with their eyes to their children, of teaching them, of encouraging them, of admonishing them, with just a look. Will it be a look of affection or of sad forebodings which Mary has directed to our youth?

The Effects of the Miracle

The look of our Mother was not of sad forebodings. In the first place, for the seers it was a great spiritual impetus. They themselves declared that they had noticed it in their conduct and piety. Some were not falling asleep when reciting the rosary, others had made the resolution of avoiding sins, and to communicate more frequently. The Father Prefect also noticed it:

The effect that was produced upon the children was for the better: they have formed a group or association that aims at combating bad conversations, and they did this spontaneously, and their fervor and good conduct has greatly improved.

The very next day, April 22, they made a collection for putting a better frame on the picture.

Fervor was not only in those students, but in all their followers, being greatly devoted to the Sorrowful Mother of the College. And overflowing the College, it spread throughout all Quito, through all Ecuador, where her image is found on most of the hearths, and finally through all the world, especially in England, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, the United States, Colombia, Panama, Australia, Africa....St. Pius X approved the process and requested a copy of the image, which he placed on the desk in his office.

It was enough that the Mother of God opened and closed her eyes for the city to have felt itself shaken and the government bewildered. The decree of expulsion of the Jesuits went into the wastebasket. And did the rulers convert? There are some, like the brothers of the rich man, who do not convert even if the dead rise again from the dead, according to Christ's words. It is the mystery of obstinate hardness of heart, of persistence in sin, and the refusal of grace.

The Miracle Is Repeated

The Most Holy Virgin wished to respond to the wave of enthusiasm that rose up towards her: 1) On Thursday, June 7, the boarding students and several priests were in the church after supper praying the rosary before the sacred image, and when they finished they once again saw the prodigy. The bell was rung and the whole community gathered. The prodigy lasted for a quarter of an hour. Moreover the picture of the Virgin sometimes displayed profound sadness, and at other times even happiness. On the 11th, declarations were taken in the Archiepiscopal Chancellery from those who saw it. 2) On the 13th, two others say that they have seen it: Doctor Emmanuel Mari­a Salazar and his brother Nicholas. The former, who was converted, recounts in his sworn declaration that the face of the image was transformed with expressions of mildness, sweetness and love, and that "what is greater than the movement of the eyes is that she deeply moved my heart." 3) On Sunday the 24th, at 5:30 in the afternoon the prodigy repeated itself in the presence of Fr. Bernard, Brother Miranda, four students of the College, and five students from the Christian Schools. 4) On the 26th two Dominican priests saw it. 5) On Tuesday, July 3, many people saw the miracle. 6) On July 5, Fr. Alphonsus Laenen, well known and remembered in Manabi,⁵ says that he saw the Virgin crying, but he is the only witness who speaks of crying.

The Veneration of Our Lady of Quito

Veneration of Our Lady of Quito, which is more properly called the Sorrowful Heart of Mary (and so it is entitled within the movement directed to her Heart advanced by herself in the last times),⁶ began immediately. On Sunday, June 3, a great procession took place, with more than 10,000 participants and some 35,000 spectators.

On July 2 the first great Novena of Our Lady of Quito began, which is repeated every year on April 11 so as to finish on the eve of the festive anniversary of the miracle, and has always gone on growing in fervor. Not content with the annual novena, the practice was established, in Quito and in other cities, of celebrating special devotions in honor of Our Lady of Quito on the 20th day of each month. And also in 1932 the Bulletin of Our Lady of Quito was founded, a monthly publication to propagate her devotion.

Particularly noteworthy were the honors given to Our Lady of Quito in 1931, the silver anniversary of the miracle which shook the entire nation, and the first Ecuadorian Marian Congress was held. The chronicles of the celebration fill four volumes. In 1934 for the first time the picture went on pilgrimage to Riobamba and other cities, generating unusual enthusiasm and tremendous excitement. The pilgrimages have been repeated. Another pilgrimage was made to Riobamba in 1938, then to Guayaquil, and to the north, to Pasto (Colombia). In 1947 the picture went to Cuenca, where it remained a whole month.

In 1956, the golden anniversary of the miracle, there was a Canonical Coronation of Our Lady of Quito. Pope Pius XII in the Brief of the Coronation said:

Having consulted the Sacred Congregation of Rites, we grant by our apostolic authority and in virtue of this brief to our beloved son, Carlos Mari­a de la Torre, Cardinal Priest of the Holy Church, Archbishop of Quito, that he impose in our name and with our authority, a Crown of gold upon the image of the Most Holy Virgin, the Sorrowful Mother of the College, AS QUEEN OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION IN ECUADOR.

Dr. Camillus Ponce Enri­quez, President of the Republic,⁷ thanked God and Our Lady of Quito for his electoral victory in front of 40 diplomatic delegations.

1958. The relocation of the College of St. Gabriel to a new building was made. With the College the picture of Our Lady of Quito was also moved.

1978. On December 30, the National Shrine of the Sorrowful Mother is blessed and dedicated.

1981. This year marked the diamond anniversary of the miracle. In these 75 years, churches dedicated to our Queen and Mother have been built, such as in Riobamba, Cotacachi, and Ibarra. Colleges and schools have been founded with her name, as in Loja and Llano Grande. In other cities and parishes, congregations function in her honor, as in Otavalo, to beg for the Ecuadorian children and youth.

Once again the miraculous picture is traveling throughout the whole Republic, in towns, hospitals.... The enormous interest and national fervor is impressive. Since the month of February, a program dedicated to the jubilee is broadcast daily by 46 radio transmitters and by television on Saturdays. Novenas, rosaries at dawn, and popular missions in preparation for the arrival of the Virgin take place, which increase the number of confessions and communions, with solemn Masses in the stadiums because the churches become too small.

One sign of the national response is the resolution of the Very Illustrious City of Ante.

Considering that it is the duty of the City to exteriorize the religious and Marian sentiment of the people that it represents, it is resolved:

_• To render homage of admiration and honor to the Sorrowful Mother of the College on the diamond anniversary of the miracle of the tears shed for the country.

_• To give the keys of the city as a symbol of respect and admiration to the Queen of Heaven.

_• To recommend to all the Christian people, and particularly to the youth, devotion and love to the Sorrowful Mother of the College.

_• To be officially present as a group at the solemn act of her reception.

Favors of Our Lady of Quito

Our Mother is she who always gives us good things and who loves us. "God hath first loved us" (I Jn. 4:10), but when we come to her, then she does her utmost, even with miracles. There would be no end in recounting all her gifts and favors: The vast majority we will know only in heaven. We are going to listen to some accounts.⁸

_ In the year 1917, in Ecuador, a young woman, Rose Ponce Ribadeneira was going with a group of people from a ranch named Capelo, in Sangolqua­, to Santa Rosa, a property of Mr. Jijin, when the horse on which she was riding slipped and fell to the ground, she remaining tangled in the stirrup. The horse was startled and bolted out of control, dragging along the body of the unfortunate young woman, amidst the screams of terror that the onlookers were making. One of them, Dr. Belisario Ponce, went quickly in pursuit inwardly convinced that he was not going to retrieve anything but the body of his niece in pieces; but what was his surprise when going around a curve, he noticed from afar a black shape rising up from the ground, he recognized that it was his niece and he rushed towards her, who, as though she were insane, was muttering these words: "The Virgin has saved me; at the time I mounted I commended myself to the Sorrowful Mother of the College, and the whole way I was dragged I did not cease to cry out to the Sorrowful Mother. She has saved me." The horse ran a distance of about 300 yards from the place where it bolted to where the dragging ended, due to the fact that the girth came off and the saddle fell to the ground; and apart from Rose having her face completely covered with dirt and her clothes in tatters, she showed absolutely no sign of the dragging; she had no wounds, not even on her face or her head.

_ In 1927 a boy, Oswald Romero, was run over by the main part of a wagon full of rocks. When falling he remembered the Mother of Sorrows. That day, after fainting and vomiting blood, he stayed asleep and afterwards was healed without medicine. He later became a priest in the United States.

_ In England, where she is known under the name of "Our Lady of Quito," her devotion grew much due to the innumerable favors that she worked during the World War, saving the houses that had her image from the damage produced by the aerial bombardment. Even the Protestants themselves placed an image of the Sorrowful Mother in their houses and churches. Soldiers, marines, and airmen carried with them small pictures so as to feel her maternal protection. Deeds such as the ones we transcribe below repeat themselves at each step.

An officer wrote to his wife:

I have just narrowly escaped death by a real miracle in North Africa. I was crossing our lines in my car in full battle. I had to travel some two miles on the open highway. A car in these circumstances is a magnificent target for the enemy air force. Indeed, soon after, out of some low clouds four aircraft emerged that immediately began to pursue me. They came flying at a low height behind me. At once I felt engulfed by a rain of artillery fire and machine-gun fire. Suddenly, as the first result of the attack, a howitzer shell pierced the back part of the car, and after tearing my shirtsleeve and grazing my arm just below the shoulder, smashed the windshield and went on to kill a poor man who was trying to take refuge in a hole, about a hundred yards ahead. Another bullet pierced my cap, and a third snatched away from me my binoculars from my back. An artillery shot demolished one of the doors of the car, and finally it went into the ditch, pierced with six shots of artillery and riddled by gunshots; it stayed there like a sieve, but the driver and I were unhurt. Truly God has been good to me. Tell my mother that I was carrying the picture of Our Lady the Sorrowful Mother of Quito in my pocket.

_ She is also known in Australia, where many hundreds of small pictures of the Sorrowful Mother of Quito have been distributed. There they have felt, just as in Ecuador, the compassionate hand of this Blessed Mother in the multitude of favors, such as the following, which occurred in Melbourne in 1948. A little girl fell from a balcony onto a cement floor. Having been taken to the hospital, her condition became serious. The father and mother of the girl prayed before the image of the Sorrowful Mother of Quito. She heard their prayers and in a short time the girl was completely cured.

_ And Mr. Ripalda likewise tells of a favor of the Virgin:

A contract with the Government of several million sucres⁹ obliged me to rent an airplane from Ateca, in order to bring to Quito the commodity that had arrived from Guayaquil. Although it seemed imprudent to me to undertake the flight after six o'clock in the afternoon, because of the insistence of my friends I had to yield. When I crossed the mountains I saw that there was a torrential rain, which disturbed me; but my uneasiness was greater when I was informed in the cabin that the motors were failing and we were in serious danger. In order to save the plane, we thought of throwing the cargo to the ground, but the door did not open. I was thinking about the crash of the plane and about the ensuing death. Amidst the shadows of my distress, I remembered the Sorrowful Mother of the College, to whom with the faith of a child I began to pray the Hail Holy Queen. Shortly after there was a tremendous jolt of the plane followed by groans of sorrow and cries of despair. I did not cease to beg the help of the Virgin, in the midst of the most complete darkness. I looked for the exit door, which gave way easily. This was the first miracle that I attributed to the Sorrowful Mother. But I believe I saw a deep abyss at my feet. Again I began to cry out to the Sorrowful Mother for help and protection. An immense wave entered into the plane, without succeeding to submerge me within it. The plane had plunged into the Guayas River and was sinking slowly. I jumped into the water fully clothed, even wearing my hat. I thought that I was in the sea. A small boat that was providentially passing by the place of the accident saved me. By my directions the other passengers, although injured, were also rescued. The pilot and the manager of Ateca lost their lives. Days later, I thanked the Sorrowful Mother for this favor. Starting today, [he said], I believe in the Catholic religion, I believe in miracles; I would like to do something for the Sorrowful Mother in the material order; I would like above all to be henceforth a practicing Catholic. I promise to confess and receive Communion.

_ Better known, by the public narrations of the protagonist himself, was the following: On Thursday, June 5, 1941, the North American Captain Burguess and the Ecuadorian officials Second Lieutenant Davalos and Lieutenant Louis Arias departed from Esmeraldas for Salinas. This last man, even after very many years, remembered all the details of the tragedy while the students listened with growing emotion:

I asked the captain if they had loaded the gasoline. He assured me that even the auxiliary tanks had been filled. With this certainty I began the flight. It was four o'clock in the afternoon; we went into a storm so thick that the ends of the wings could not be seen. The motor started to stall. My fear was realized: there was no gasoline!

Beneath my feet was the sea. The plane shook indecisively; it began to descend slowly, irremediably. I hear a hiss, a screech, a bang. We slid open the laminated windows, we took off our clothes, and put on the life jackets. The water was flooding the cabins, and so we had to abandon the plane. I was myself in the depths of the sea, surrounded by sharks and with my companions hanging on me because they do not know how to swim. The captain was driven insane out of terror, and he died at about ten o'clock. Two of us were left, perhaps hoping for the same thing.

A splendid day dawned and it enabled me to realize that the coast was within sight. We swam with all our strength. Davalos began to despair; finally he was silent; then, a gasp....He was dead! I clung with anxiety to the corpse. No one can imagine how useful the company of a human being is, even if it be a corpse.

I continued like this. It was getting dark. I still kept up my morale, but my strength was diminishing. The sharks were hounding ahead threatening the corpse. Very soon a strong tug pulled us down. I could do no more. I let go of the corpse. I swam desperately; I was getting weak.

But suddenly, as if to make my agony less painful, the picture of the Sorrowful Mother came to mind, the picture of the Virgin whom I loved so much in the College. And in the midst of the confusion I besought her; I begged God that He not let me perish if I could still serve Him. I thought of my mother, of my brothers, and I turned to that which gives strength to a man: the faith.

I found myself finally about 400 yards from the cliff of the coast. The undercurrent was pulling me, and after six hours of efforts, I did not succeed in getting to shore. One gigantic wave that carried me on its crest was going to break upon it. I felt that my feet were touching something; it was a rock. I grabbed on to it and left the water. My body exhausted, mangled, scorched, I did not resist any more: I fell down dismayed.

Then another day dawned. A splash of water restored me to my senses, and I despaired. I could do no more. For a moment I was overcome by desperation. I reacted; I looked around and saw a fisherman. I wanted to shout, but my voice would not come out. The fisherman being suspicious was looking at me like a monster or a lunatic: naked, staggering, and desperate. Finally he came near. Another fisherman appeared. I was saved, thanks to the Sorrowful Mother of the College.

Now in Quito, my only concern has been to publish the miracle in which the Sorrowful Mother wished to make it evident that we have in her a true Mother.

This is the first authorized English translation of La Dolorosa de Quito, Reina del Ecuador (Quito, Ecuador: Libreria Espiritual). Fr. Paul Kimball of Connecticut was ordained in 1989 for the Society of Saint Pius X. After serving at St. Peter's Priory in Browerville, Minnesota, for some years, he was recently posted to Singapore. Angelus Press is grateful to Father for his determination to spread knowledge of Our Lady of Quito and Garcia Moreno.